Apparatus for stunning or killing animals



L. E. SADLER March 11, 1952 APPARATUS FOR STUNNING OR KILLING ANIMALS Filed 001'.. 5l. 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET l inw.

ATTORNEYS I Marchill, 1952 L. E. SADLER 2,588,770

APPARATUS FOR STUNNING OR KILLING ANIMALS Filed Oct. '31, 1949 2 SHEETS-' SREET 2 INVENTOR @Sacile 7" l# WAM,

ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. '11, 1952 APPARATUS FOR STUNNING OR KILLI'NG ANIMALS LutherE. Sradler,- Los Angeles, Calif., assignor of twenty-five per cent to Byron R.. Bentley,l Los Angeles, Calif.

Application October 3.71, 1949, Serial No'. 124,549 1 Claim. y(Cl. 12S-1)v ate the chamber is reducedA by the employment of a series; of low pressure air. tanks which. will reduce `the air pressure in.. ther` chamber' to a predetermined point whichv is sufficient to either kill or stun the animal.

Another object of this invention is to provideF apparatus which will perform the desired operationv quickly and without physical injury to the animal, the apparatus being such that if desired the animal may be rendered unconscious or may be killed. Where the animal is to be killed, the animal is first subjected to a low air pressure sufficient to cause sleepiness or unconsciousness, and then subjected to a lower air pressure which is sufcient to kill. When it is desired to only stun the animal and render it unconscious, the animal is subjected to a predetermined low air pressure for a relatively short time. With the above and other objects in View, my invention consists in the arrangement, combina;l tion and details of construction disclosed in the drawingsv and specification, and then more particularly pointed out in the appended claim. In the drawings, Y Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of a lethal and stunning apparatus constructed according to an embodiment of this invention,

Figure 2 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the chamber and the evacuator, Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the lin 3-3 of Figure 2.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral III designates generally a chamber which in the present instance is shown as polygonal in transverse section, being formed of top and bottom walls II and I2, and opposite side walls I3 and I4. The chamber IIl also includes an end wall I5 and a closure I6 which is hinged. as at ,I1 and is adapted to be tightly secured in airtight position by means of securing bolts I8. The chamber I6 is reinforced by means of a series of reinforcing angle members I9 and 20, the angle members being disposed adjacent the ends of the chamber I0, whereas the angle member I9 is positioned between the ends of the chamber.

The closure I6-is formed with a window opening 2I withinwhich a transparent panel 22 is secured so that the condition of. the animal or animals in. theV chamber can` be visibly'v determined.

The chamber Illis connected by means of a pipe 23 to a relatively small ballast tank 24, and a valve 25 isl interposed in the pipe 23.- A suction pump 26 of conventionalV construction is lconnected by meansy of a pipe 2'I to the tank 24, and the pump 26 also includes an exhaust 28 for exhausting the air which is withdrawn from. the tank 24'l The tank 24 has a drain pipe 2-9 connected with one end thereof, and a valvef 30 is connected with the pipe 29. The valve 3Ilwill be normally closed during the. operation ofv this system.

A pair of relatively large ballast tanks 3I are connected by means of a pipe 32 to the opposite end of the ballast tank 24, and a valve 33 is interposed in the pipe 32. Separate valves 34 are connected between each tank 3I and the pipe 32 so that either or both of the tanks 3| may becoupled with the ballast tank 24.

A drain valve 35 is connected with each tank 3I for draining the tank as may be desired. The air pump 26 is operated by means of a power member 36 which in the present instance is a motor connected with the pump 26 by means of an endless belt or driving connection 31. A vacuum operated switch 38 is connected to the ballast tank 24 and interposed in one of the conductors 39 which connects the motor 36 to a source of electric current supply.

The switch 38 is connected to the ballast tank 24 and a meter 40 is also connected with the tank 24 whereby the degree of evacuation of air in tank 24 may be visibily determined. The meter 46 may be a conventional altimeter such as is used in airplanes for determining air pressure and the height of an airplane.

An intake pipe 4I is connected with the chamber I0, and a manually operated valve 42 is interposed in the pipe 4I. A light 43 is carried by the closure I6, being disposed on the inner side of the closure I6 so that the interior of the chamber I Il may be lighted for visibly determining the condition of the animal or animals positioned therein.

An electric timer 44 is adapted to be connected to a vacuum operated switch 45 which connected with the chamber I0.

A pressure meter 46 is connected with the chamber III by means of a pie 41. and a valve 48 is interposed in the pipe 41.

In the use and operation of this system, the animal which is to be either killed or stunned is placed within the chamber l0. This chamber may have any desired configuration and size and when the animal is placed therein the closure i6 is sealed. At this time valve 25 is opened and valve 33 is also opened. The valves 34 connected between pipe 32 and the two ballast tanks 3l are also opened. It is also assumed at the start of the operation that the tanks 24 and 3l will be substantially evacuated of air by operation of the exhaust pump 26. When air is withdrawn from chamber lll, this air will initially pass through In the event it isv tank 24 and into tanks 3|. desired to kill the animal Without any physical injury, the animal may be initially subjected to a low pressure of predetermined degree for a pre-J determined period of time so as to thereby stun or render the animal unconscious, whereupon the low pressure may be further lowered so as to kill the animal. When the animal is being subjected to the low air pressure in chamber I0, valve 42 will be closed so that no air may enter the chamber.

With a d evice as hereinbefore described, the animal or animals will be killed without the presence of any noxious gases and through the medium of paralyzing the vital parts very quickly.

The chamber I0 may be termed as a lethal chamber, and it will be understood that where the law permits, this appparatus may be used for killing criminals,

I- do not mean to conne myself to the exact details of construction herein disclosed, but claim all variations falling within the purview of the appended claim.

' What I claim is: f An apparatus for killing animals without 'ex- 4 terior evidence of injury comprised of an air tight chamber, 'an intermediate tank, a uid connection between said tank and said chamber, a Valve in said connection, and evacuating pump, a source of energy for actuating said pump, a uid connection between said pump and said tank', a pressure responsive switch operable by the pressure in said tank for energizing and Vde-energizing said pump, a rst main tank, a

LUTHER E. SADLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

` UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 700,561 Rowley et al. May 20, 1902 1,224,180 Lake May 1, 1917 1,713,558 Schollmeyer May 21, 1929 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 4,455 Great Britain ..-of 1876 

